Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J27/00—Cooking-vessels
  • A47J27/004—Cooking-vessels with integral electrical heating means
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
  • G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
  • G01F23/22—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water
  • G01F23/28—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by measuring physical variables, other than linear dimensions, pressure or weight, dependent on the level to be measured, e.g. by difference of heat transfer of steam or water by measuring the variations of parameters of electromagnetic or acoustic waves applied directly to the liquid or fluent solid material
  • G01F23/296—Acoustic waves
  • G01F23/2962—Measuring transit time of reflected waves

Definitions

• the invention relates first of all to a kitchen appliance designed with an electrical supply, which has a pot for accommodating foodstuffs to be processed by the kitchen appliance, wherein an ultrasonic transmitter and an ultrasonic receiver are provided in the pot for determining the filling level of the food , and the pot has a pot wall with a wall thickness and a cylindrical or conically opening inner surface.
• the invention further relates to a provided with an electrical kitchen appliance with a pot for receiving food to be processed with the kitchen appliance.
• Kitchen utensils having a pot for containing food to be processed with the electric kitchen utensil, as well as often a lid for closing the pot, are well known in the art.
• steam cookers and to multifunctional food processors.
• the latter are usually provided with such a pot, which allows the inclusion of food, so that they can be processed therein in various ways.
• processing of the foods may be e.g. in a crushing, stirring or kneading consist.
• such pots are known by food processors that provide additional functions, such as weighing the food contained therein and / or heating.
• the pot When filling the food in such a pot, it is often of great importance to avoid overfilling the pot. If, in fact, the pot is covered by a food, such as a liquid, filled with the right amount, there may be a risk of food leaking out of the pot during processing of the food, eg during a blending process. This can be prevented by providing the electrical kitchen appliance with a level determining device for determining the level of the food in the pot. In this case, the level determination device regularly does not have to allow quantitative measurement of the level of the food in the pot. Rather, it is generally sufficient if the filling level determining device detects whether the filling level of the food in the pot is actually below a maximum permissible maximum level height.
• a cup-shaped measuring device in which the measuring device comprises an ultrasonic sensor which is arranged projecting into the interior of the cup on the upper edge of the cup.
• a device for detecting a liquid level is known, in which rearward to a vessel wall ultrasonic transmitter and receiver are arranged, wherein the sound propagation within the wall of the vessel for the determination of the liquid level is essential.
• US 2010/0000315 AI shows an integrated in a lid electro-optical device for detecting a liquid level in a container.
• JP 11113738 A describes for detecting a water level during rice cooking an integrated into a handle of a vessel measuring device based on an ultrasonic sensor.
• FR 2 617 965 A1 describes for detecting a liquid in a vessel through an opening in the wall of the vessel protruding sensor for excitation and detection of elastic waves.
• the invention is concerned with the task of simply and reliably providing a fill level determination in a pot of a kitchen appliance provided with an electrical supply.
• the ultrasonic transmitter and / or the ultrasonic receiver is arranged for emitting or receiving ultrasound in the region of the inner surface, forming a part of the inner surface by the ultrasonic transmitter and / or the ultrasonic receiver, or an arrangement of the ultrasonic transmitter and / or the ultrasonic receiver within the wall thickness, for impinging ultrasound from above on the food filling surface and for receiving ultrasound reflected upwards with respect to the food filling surface.
• the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver are mounted on the pot and thus not on a lid provided for the pot. Especially if a cover which is removable from the pot is provided, this has the advantage that the fill level determination of the level of the food in the pot can be independent of the position of the lid and, in particular, regardless of whether the lid is even attached to the electric kitchen appliance.
• the provision of the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver at the upper edge of the pot also has the advantage that it is always an ultrasonic signal from top to bottom on the surface of the food can be emitted, up to very high levels of food in the pot.
• the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver can be placed on the wall of the pot, in continuation of the wall, e.g. also releasably attached. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, it is provided that the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver are integrated into the wall of the pot. This makes the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver to captive components of the pot and also has hygienic advantages, since in an integration of ultrasonic transmitter and ultrasonic receiver in the wall of the pot, this can be made smooth, which makes them easier to clean.
• an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver are provided.
• the ultrasound transmitter and the ultrasound receiver are part of a sensor ring formed on the upper edge of the pot, which has a plurality of sensors and thus at least one further sensor.
• the further sensor can in principle also be an ultrasonic sensor.
• the further sensor is a sensor that is different from an ultrasonic sensor, for example a temperature sensor or an "artificial nose.”
• An “artificial nose” is understood to mean an "artificial nose”.
• niche nose " which in the narrower sense refers to chemosensory measuring systems which are modeled on the biological sense of smell, although it is not possible primarily to determine olfactory properties but to analyze compositions of gas mixtures and then to convert them into odors for example, to the article "Chemosensorics and Odor Measurement", Peter Boeker, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, in Agricultural Engineering Research 7 (2001), No. 4, pages 77-81, referenced. Invention is essential according to that with the ultrasonic transmitter and the
• Ultrasonic receiver can be determined via an emitted on the surface of the food and reflected from the surface of the food ultrasonic signal, the level of the food in the pot.
• the ultrasonic transmitter has an additional function.
• an ultrasound control is provided, with which the ultrasound transmitter can be controlled in such a way that cleaning of the pot takes place at the same time for filling level determination. This means that the ultrasound control activates the ultrasonic transmitter for scouring with such an ultrasonic signal that the wall of the pot, at least in regions, excites vibrations of this kind, which enable a loosening of contaminants potentially seated there.
• This preferred embodiment of the invention is very particularly advantageous because the cleaning by means of the ultrasound signal does not have to take any additional time, but can take place simultaneously with the filling level determination by means of the ultrasound signal emitted onto the surface of the food in the pot.
• an intermittent operation of the ultrasonic be provided.
• the ultrasonic sensor and the ultrasonic receiver on the one hand work in a mode of operation detection of the level and on the other hand, especially if this is associated with a different sound intensity, in the mode of cleaning.
• These modes of operation can then also be freely selectable by a user, for example, or be predefinable by a control program of the food processor.
• the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver may be mounted separately from each other as separate devices at the top of the pot. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the ultrasonic transmitter and the ultrasonic receiver are jointly designed as a transducer. This simplifies the design of the electrical kitchen appliance and reduces costs, since only a single ultrasonic device is required for level measurement.
• the heating behavior of the heating element can be monitored so that a heating signal dependent on the heating behavior of the heating element can be evaluated with regard to a fill level determination.
• the principle underlying this aspect of the invention therefore lies in the fact that with constant control for heating the heating element, the heating of the heating element is dependent on the extent to which it can deliver heat to a food introduced into the pot. The higher the level of the food in the pot, the more heat can be given to the food, so that there is a correspondingly lower heating of the heating element itself.
• This heating behavior that is the degree of heating of the heating element, can be determined by the heating monitoring device, which emits a corresponding heating signal to the filling level checking device, which depends From this heating signal can check whether the level of the food in the pot is above or below a maximum allowable level.
• thermocouple any device with which the heating, ie the heating behavior of the heating element, can be detected as a heating monitoring device.
• a thermocouple and / or an electrical resistance meter is provided as a heating monitoring device.
• An electrical resistance meter can detect the temperature of the heating element via the principle that the electrical resistance of the heating element increases with increasing temperature of the heating element.
• the respective temperature of the heating element can thus be detected with the thermocouple or with the electrical resistance meter so that by means of the level tester a permissible or too high filling of the pot with the food can be detected.
• the heating element may be provided on or on the wall of the pot.
• the heating element is integrated in the wall of the pot. This has particular hygienic advantages, since in this way the wall of the pot can be smooth, which facilitates cleaning.
• Fig. 1 shows schematically an electrical kitchen appliance according to a first
• FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows an electric kitchen appliance 1 with a pot 2 for receiving a foodstuff 3 to be processed with the electrical kitchen appliance 1.
• a lid 4 To close the pot 2 is a lid 4.
• an ultrasonic transmitter 5 and an ultrasonic receiver 6 are provided.
• the ultrasonic transmitter 5 and the ultrasonic receiver 6 are attached to the upper edge of the pot 2, namely there integrated into the wall 12 of the pot 2. In this way, a smooth surface is provided even inside the pot 2, which is advantageous for hygienic reasons and in particular allows easy cleaning of the pot 2.
• the pot can be a metal pot.
• the pot can be made of a steel material. It can be produced, for example, by deep drawing.
• the pot can also consist of several materials, in particular having a metallic part and a plastic part.
• the plastic part may be attached to the outside of the metal part.
• the plastic part can be provided over a part of the circumference of the pot or even completely encompassing to the pot. In the latter case, however, can be formed over the height of the pot only over part of the height of the enclosure. Also, for example, over an intermediate region of the height, so that the foot region of the pot and the edge region have no comprehensive (in the circumferential direction) plastic surround.
• the plastic part for example, also forms a pot handle.
• the Arrangement of the ultrasonic transmitter 5 and / or the ultrasonic receiver 6 within the pot wall may also mean that these parts are at least partially, but possibly also completely, accommodated in a plastic part of the pot.
• the pot 2 At the upper edge of the pot 2, it is preferred that it be in a range b starting from a free inner height H of the pot
• Pot edge 17 are arranged, which is a third or less, for example, up to 1/100, the free inner height H.
• This also includes all intermediate values, in particular in 1/100 steps, ie in a range b which corresponds to 0.32 up to the pot edge itself or 1/100 or more away from the pot edge.
• this range limit - starting from the pot edge towards the bottom of the pot - can be varied in 1/100-steps.
• an area is covered, which corresponds to a quarter of the inner height H, one-eighth or one-sixteenth of the inner height H, as area b.
• the pot 2 of the electric kitchen appliance 1 is mounted on a base 7 of the kitchen appliance according to the apparent from Figure 1 preferred embodiment of the invention.
• a central control device 8 for general control of the electric kitchen appliance 1 an ultrasound controller 9 and an ultrasound evaluation device 10 are provided.
• the ultrasonic controller 9 is connected to the ultrasonic transmitter 5
• the ultrasonic evaluation device 10 is connected to the ultrasonic receiver 6.
• the lines 11 and 12 can only mean signal lines.
• the operation of the electric kitchen appliance 1 is as follows: With the ultrasonic controller 9, the ultrasonic transmitter 5 is driven such that this, as indicated by an obliquely downward arrow, an ultrasonic signal down to the surface 11 of the food 3 in the pot 2 emits. There is a partial reflection of the ultrasonic signal, so that a reflected portion of the ultrasonic signal again runs obliquely upwards and there meets the ultrasonic receiver 6. The signal received by the ultrasonic receiver 6 is then transmitted to the ultrasonic evaluation device 10, which in turn can determine the level of the food 3 in the pot 2 from the transit time of the ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic transmitter 5 to the ultrasonic receiver 6.
• the ultrasonic transmitter 5 for emitting an ultrasonic signal to the surface 11 of the food 3 in the pot 2, such a control of the ultrasonic transmitter 5 is possible by means of the ultrasonic controller 9, that at the same time for the determination of the filling level a cleaning of the pot 2 takes place.
• a control of the ultrasonic transmitter 5 with a suitable frequency and a sufficiently large amplitude is required to stimulate the wall 12 of the pot 2 to such oscillations, which allows a detachment of stuck there debris.
• Such a cleaning process thus takes no extra time, since it can be done simultaneously for detecting the level of the food 3 in the pot 2.
• frequencies of 20 to 400 kHz are used in particular for ultrasonic cleaning.
• frequencies in the range of 20 to 50 kHz are also favorable for cleaning, in particular with regard to comparatively small particles.
• frequencies in the range of 200 kHz, ie about 180 to 220 kHz are used for cleaning with regard to particles having a diameter greater than 1 ⁇ m.
• the bandwidth given above can be extended even further up to 2 MHz.
• the sound power is 50 watts or more, up to, for example, 2400 watts preferred. At least if it is a cleaning application.
• a level measurement it is also possible to work with lower, even considerably lower powers. Approximately in the range of 0.5 - 5 watts. However, a higher frequency is preferably used in a level measurement. For example, in the range of 350-450 kHz, preferably 370-390 kHz, and more preferably 380 kHz.
• an ultrasonic transmitter and an ultrasonic receiver are coupled only to the metallic part of a pot. You do not need to be inside the wall. They can therefore be arranged in the pot exterior so far. Optionally, but also embedded and surrounded by a plastic part or other protective part.
• the beam direction of the ultrasound be such an angle of approximately 30-70 degrees, preferably 40, relative to a horizontal, with the usual use of the pot in a downward angle with the horizontal. 60 degrees and more preferably about 50 degrees.
• FIG. 2 shows an electrical kitchen appliance 1 according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention.
• a level determination of the food 3 in the pot 2 is a level determination of the food 3 in the pot 2 by means of a strip-shaped heating element 15, which is preferably integrated into the wall 12 of the pot 2.
• This heating element 15 is driven and thus heated by a heating controller 13, which is provided in the base 7 of the electrical kitchen appliance 1 seen.
• the heating element 15 is also connected to a heating monitoring device 14, with which the heating behavior of the heating element 15 can be detected.
• a heating signal dependent on the heating behavior of the heating element 15 is then output by the heating monitoring device 14 to a filling level checking device 16, with which the fill level of the food 3 in the pot 2 can be tested.
• the principle of fill level measurement is that, with constant activation for heating the heating element 15, its heating depends on how much heat can be given off to the food 3 in the pot 2. The higher the level of the food 3 in the pot 2, the greater the volume of the food 3 and thus also the heat capacity of the food 3, so that correspondingly more heat can be given to the food 3. This leads to a correspondingly lower heating of the heating element 15th
• This heating behavior ie the degree of heating of the heating element 15, is determined by the heating monitoring device 14, which emits a corresponding heating signal to the level checking device 16, which checks depending on this heating signal, if the level of the food 3 in the pot 2 above or below a maximum allowable filling level, which allows a regular and safe operation of the electric kitchen appliance 1.
• the heating monitoring device 14 As a heating monitoring device 14, an electrical resistance meter is presently provided. With this electrical resistance meter, the temperature of the heating element 15 is detected by the principle that the electrical resistance of the heating element 15 increases with increasing temperature of the heating element 15.
• the temperature of the heating element 15 is thus detected with the electrical resistance meter, so that based on it by means of the Gremansprüf adopted 16 a permissible or too high filling of the pot 2 with the food 3 can be detected.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Cookers (AREA)
• Measurement Of Levels Of Liquids Or Fluent Solid Materials (AREA)
• Food-Manufacturing Devices (AREA)

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Citations (9)

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• 2015
  • 2015-01-29 DE DE102015101299.5A patent/DE102015101299A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2016
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  • 2016-01-29 ES ES16704550T patent/ES2704176T3/es active Active
  • 2016-01-29 CN CN201680010570.6A patent/CN107257644B/zh active Active
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• 2020
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